Chris Hennes

While all these statistics are interesting, I'd caution everyone to actually use the site for a while before passing judgement based on how few of your titles are indexed. Even only searching half my cookbook collection, I have still managed to come up with dinner options every single time I've used it. Of course I'd love to have more books in there, but I personally find their focus on quality over quantity admirable. Of course there are still some mistakes, but one can only imagine how hard it must be to get these hundreds of thousands of recipes entered manually and relatively error-free!

I think we may be talking at cross purposes: I am suggesting that if you want maillard in a braise, you want to brown the outside of the meat at the highest possible rate to minimize the cooking of the inside. I suggest that the problem with the original poster's stew was that by trying to deep fry it you are only cooking the meat at around 375 degrees, and you are completely surrounding it: it's awesome for actually cooking things, but since you don't WANT to cook the meat, but just brown it, it doesn't work. By the time the meat is browned even a little, it's turned to leather.

Why would searing your stew meat the same way you sear a steak ruin it? The point is to brown the outside without cooking the inside: to achieve that, meat-to-metal contact is going to be the best, both for flavor and texture. Then you go low-and-slow in a high-humidity environment to break the collagen down without turning the meat into leather.

Green-as-Spring Veal Stew (pp. 262–263) Bubble-top Brioches (pp. 494–497) No, I did not bump up the saturation in that photo, it really is that green. When I put it on the table my wife commented that it "looked like it came out of a bag in a sci-fi movie." I shouted "Soylent Green is PEOPLE!!!" but I don't think she was amused. I know, it's not exactly spring here, or even the depth of winter: it's late summer, but I had a bunch of arugula and spinach in the fridge, so I figured I'd give this one a shot. For the most part it was successful, but was a bit heavy on the tarragon: I find measuring herbs in these quantities (fractions of cups) to be notoriously challenging: I know the publisher doesn't like to see weights, but I think for something like this it would really help. The brioche were lovely, of course, though as you can see I omitted the egg wash (no reason, just laziness).

Absolutely. While of course you can make a great stew with high-quality chuck, you absolutely CAN make a great stew with a "lesser" cut. I'm convinced that the sole culprit here was the deep frying step. Not only are you losing all the flavor from not getting a fond, you also have inferior heat transfer from the oil to the meat (as opposed to from the metal of a pan to the meat), resulting in it taking much longer to brown. A minute or two per side in a very hot pan is the best, then a quick deglaze with your wine, stock, or water, then you're off to the races.

I'm making the "Green as Spring Veal Stew" tonight for dinner, and have a question, just to make sure I'm not missing something: the veal is never browned, just poached. Is that correct?

I used the Crema, since it's the only one I've got. I like mezcal (though I find this one challenging to mix with), my problem is that when you only get the faintest trace of it it does not seem to read (to me) as mezcal. It's just an indefinable "strangeness" lingering on your palate at the end of a bite of otherwise plain-vanilla ice cream: a strangeness that I didn't care for.

White Chocolate–Mezcal Ice Cream (p. 310) The trouble with using white chocolate in ice cream is that is basically tastes like a very rich vanilla. Except it costs ten times as much. Add to that the small amount of Mezcal, which adds an odd almost chemical note to the tail end, and you have a recipe for something... mediocre. I was using pretty nice white chocolate (E. Guittard) and a decent mezcal (Del Maguey), so I don't think ingredient quality is the culprit here. It may just be that the recipe needs more mezcal: I'm not sure it would read as a chemical note if there were enough in there for it to be recognizable as mezcal.

I'm sorry to continue torturing those of you who don't have your copies yet (did I mention I love getting new cookbooks?)... Chicken Basquaise (pp. 210–211) This is another braise that I don't think would be out of place on any American table: think "chicken and peppers" (there is a bit more refinement here, of course). I was unclear on how spicy the piment d'Espelette is supposed to be: I have a couple homemade chile powders, so I just used one of them, since I couldn't source the piment here in town. Naturally, I chose a spicy (capsaicin-wise) powder made from thai bird chiles—it was delicious, and very fiery. I loved how it worked in the dish, but then again, I love spicy foods. I served this with white rice, and did not make the egg version in the "Bonne Idée" sidebar. Here it is:

Thanks Dorie, maybe instead of "misshapen" I'll bill them as "rustic" Osso Buco à l'Arman (pp. 270–272) Another photogenic braise. This is a very interesting Osso Buco in that it is very heavily flavored with orange zest: in the braising liquid, in the rice, and in the gremolata. Since I think of lemon as being the more "classic" flavor this was a welcome change, and worked very nicely with the other flavors in the dish.

Gougeres (pp. 4–6) It's a fall weekend, and in my house that means football. Which means snacks. Usually small, cheesy snacks. Ergo, gougeres. Maybe not your typical football fair, and I served them with beer rather than champagne, but I think it worked... although I made them too big to they are a bit misshapen.

Veal Marengo (pp. 264–266) First, a confession: I did not follow the recipe terribly strictly here. I really love mushrooms, cipollines, and new potatoes, so I doubled, or maybe even tripled, the quantities of those. And I kinda eyeballed the rest. So: point a) this recipe must be very forgiving, because it tasted great despite all that, and b) it's really easy to make, and for a braise, really doesn't take that long. To a certain extent that relies on using a decent quality veal: I don't think you could make this so quickly with beef or lamb. But if you've got access, and especially if it's starting to cool down where you live, this is another one to add to your "to try" list.

Over on the Cooking Issues blog this morning, Dave Arnold has the second part of his series on cocktail science. In it, he puts the following forward: So he seems to be saying that what makes a drink succeed as a classic cocktail is that even if you order it in a crappy bar, it will still be edible. Having had a few horrific Manhattans, I'm not sure I can agree with this: what are your thoughts on the matter?

I made the tagine in a dutch oven, since I don't own a tagine (pan).

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Lamb and Dried Apricot Tagine (pp. 284–285) This was a wonderful braise, especially on a rainy fall day like today: it made the whole house smell good, it looks great on the plate, and the sweet-and-savory combination is one of my favorites. My wife suggests that this would be a great dish to serve guests because it's just "exotic" enough to be unusual (here in the States, anyway), without the flavors coming across as too outlandish for the not-so-adventurous. I'll probably cut the apricots in quarters next time: while the whole apricots looks nice, you have to cut them to eat. Otherwise, this one is just about perfect.

I can't argue the enjoyment factor, of course! If you like doing it, by all means, continue. But Kerry asked above why more people don't do it, and I for one don't do it because I don't see the advantage. Of course I have no control over what any one manufacturer chooses to make: but there are hundreds, probably even thousands, of different chocolates for the artisan confectioner to choose from. Much as I don't mill my own flour, or make my own butter, I don't make my own chocolate because I don't see what you gain by doing so, considering the additional equipment you have to own and maintain.

Kerry, what do you see as the advantage of going "bean to bar"? There are an awful lot of really good chocolates out there, it's hard to see making the investment in one of these gizmos just to wind up with the same thing you could just buy off the shelf.

I'd think that using an ice-bath would probably cool faster, since it's going to be coming from all sides at one. Since you're already bagged, it's easier, too.

I still can't see how it would work, Steven. As Sam pointed out, with copyright you only have to make relatively minor changes to the work to be off the hook, legally speaking. No matter how complex the cocktail, it still has relatively few ingredients and/or techniques: it seems probable that a minor tweak to any one of those things will result in a "new work" for the purposes of copyright. If someone comes up with a unique-looking cocktail, via layering, or fancy glasses, or whatever, do you actually think that another bar is going to pay to be allowed to reproduce that exact drink, when they can change one tiny detail and owe no one anything? We see a lack of creativity in chefs and mixologists because there is no demand for creativity, not because there are no rewards for it.

eGullet Top Chef Finale Chat Room Last week's test of the technology went smoothly, so during the two finale episodes of Top Chef we'll again set up an open chat room: it's a place where you can come and join your fellow eGullet Top Chef fans to discuss (and mock) the episode live, while it's happening. The chat room will "go live" for Society Donors fifteen minutes before the episode starts, and five minutes before the episode starts for Participating Members. We're basing this off the Eastern and Central timezone airing of the episode, so that's 9:45pm EDT/8:45 CDT for Donors and 9:55pm EDT/8:55 CDT for Participating Members. Only the first twenty members to get there will be allowed in, but if you get a message that the chat room is full, feel free to check in later during the episode to see if space has opened up. Finally, if you have any questions please PM me. Here's the link to get to the room: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?app=ipchat If you decide to join us, please note that regular eGullet Forums rules still apply!

Chard-Stuffed Pork Roast (pp. 276–78) French Lentils: A Basic Recipe (pp. 367–368) The port roast in this case is stuffed with a mixture of swiss chard, onions, garlic, and raisins. It's then tied up, rubbed with cracked black pepper and coriander, and roasted. Here is the stuffing: And here it is wrapped up and ready for the oven: My wife prefers things cooked a little more on the "well done" side, so I cooked the roast to 150°F. Here it is sliced: I served it with the basic lentil recipe on page 367: As you can see, I topped it with rather bountiful quantities of a grainy dijon mustard, one of my favorite accompaniments for pork. Both of these recipes are clear winners in my book: the pork stuffing was delicious, and the rub of coriander and pepper on the surface a perfect accompaniment. I especially loved the raisins, which add great nuggets of sweetness when you bite into one. The lentils are finished with cognac and a shallot, a nice touch, I thought. I highly recommend that if you are unsure what to make first from this book, add these two recipes to your short list.

I'm a sucker for broccoli au gratin, or even just broccoli tossed in Sauce Mornay. Add some bacon if you like, broccoli and bacon pair well, IMO.

I've used Mexican chocolate most recently in an ice cream and a mole. The piloncillo makes appearance in many Mexican dessert and drink recipes: as an example, if you have Kennedy's "Essential Cuisines of Mexico" you might try Café de olla (coffee with cinnamon and brown sugar). According to EatYourBooks.com I have fifteen recipes that specifically call for piloncillo, between my Kennedy and Bayless books.